Kathy Brennan of Preston Art in Louisville, KY reports their Spray Day event on August 3rd was a huge success. The public was invited to try out spray paints and paint markers including Montana Gold and the Montana Markers. There was even a family who came all the way from Cincinnati to participate. According to Kathy, “the event lowered the average age of customer for the day enormously. One of our delivery vans was painted with Montana Gold. We had a boost in sales that day, and a boost in spray paint since.” Congratulations to all!
Michaels and Aaron Bros announced their vendor partners of the year awards this month in Dallas. Michael’s top honor went to Plaid Enterprises maker of Mod Podge and Aaron Bros recognized Faber-Castell.
At Michael’s Michelle LaMar has been promoted to Associate Category Management Planner reporting to Paul Langemeier.
Tuesday Morning Corp. ( TUES ) announced the appointment of Michael Rouleau as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Rouleau, was President and Chief Executive Officer of Michaels Stores during the period of 1996 to 2006.
Southern California based Eastman Group reports some changes in their their manufacturer rep team. Michael Miller has decided to pursue his true passion in Graphics Arts and Ken will step in and take over the Northern California territories. In related news John Mark Eastman reports the birth of Marcus Brody Eastman. Marcus joined the Eastman family August 21st at 4:25am, at 7lb. 13oz and 20.5in long.
With great sadness we report the passing of Bob Brown who was once the head of Daler Rowney’s USA operation in Cranbury NJ. Bob courageously fought pancreatic cancer and was an inspiration to others through his top-selling, Amazon-listed book, “The Ride Of My Life: A Fight to Survive Pancreatic Cancer.” He was 56, when he died on Thursday, Aug. 8, in Columbia-New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, N.Y. A memorial service was held on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013, at 1 p.m. in the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main St., Flemington, N.J.
The Huffington Post featured Stabilo’s cool left handed Move Easy pen in their recent article titled “8 Left-Handed Products That Make Being A Lefty A Little Less Annoying” Check it out! Huffington Post
Jim Samoska has left Crescent to pursue other career opportunities. Crescent’s VP Sales Linda Hart reports that independent rep groups will now be serving the art materials industry going forward.
Michael Harding has made a shift in his USA distribution strategy. Effective within the next few weeks Armadillo will be the exclusive Michael Harding Importer/Distributor and C2F will no longer represent the line.
Pearl announced on August 10th that they would permanently close their Los Angeles store on La Cienega Blvd effective August 12th
Amazon.com announced the launch of Amazon Art, a marketplace that gives customers direct access to 40,000+ works of fine art from 150+ galleries and dealers. Amazon Art will showcase artworks from more than 4,500+ artists – one of the largest online collections of original and limited edition artwork for purchase directly from galleries and dealers.